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Winner: MadahCom Inc.
By David Wexler
Associate Editor
How do you convince someone you can solve their problem if they don't believe the problem exists?
In its early years, MadahCom Inc., a Sarasota-based provider of public warning systems for homeland security, was faced with this very challenge - trying to convince the public that there was a need for its product.
The company, which was launched in 1994 with three people in New York and Israel, was "almost a solution looking for a problem," says Reuben Ben-Aire, MadahCom's chief executive officer.
"It is not unlike buying a home security system before a burglary happens," Ben-Aire says. "It is not easy to convince somebody that their home is vulnerable."
That was true until Sept. 11, 2001, which overnight awakened the world to the fact that the United States wasn't immune to terrorism attacks. In response, many heads of organizations rushed to beef up security and searched for new high-tech systems to better protect their operations in case of an emergency. The terrorist attacks essentially created a whole new marketplace for MadahCom and its wireless mass notification system, WAVES (Wireless Audio Visual Emergency System).
This life-altering technology, and the success of the company behind it, is why a panel of judges crowned MadahCom the winner of the 2005 Gulf Coast Business Review/82 Degrees Tech Innovation Awards.
"All of us believed that America could never be attacked or hurt by anybody," says Ben-Aire, an Armenian native who served 22 years in the Israeli Air Force. "After 9/11, the understanding of the risk of terrorism had suddenly sunk in. Add to that the fact that we went to war with Iraq and suddenly it opened new territories that were not there."
The company has grown by an average of 100% a year since 2002. In 2004, the privately held company generated more than $7 million in revenue, up from $3.5 million in 2003. It expects to top $15 million in revenue in 2005. The company has more than 150 installations of its WAVES system.
"The understanding and recognition that we were vulnerable was much stronger and much clearer in people's minds," says Ben-Aire, "and people were willing to put money out."
Protecting the troops
WAVES provides anti-terrorism protection for U.S. troops in the Middle East and other locations around the world. It is used in war zones to initiate localized warnings to areas within the predicted insurgent attack area. This warning enables troops in the hazard area to immediately seek shelter, minimizing casualties.
For the U.S. Army, MadahCom specifically created a new product, called TACWAVES (Tactical Wireless Audio Visual Emergency System), which helps save soldiers lives in the Middle East by warning them within seconds of insurgent attacks. In Iraq, the military uses MadahCom's TACWAVES and WAVES systems product for anti-terrorism force protection.
??"What could be better?" says one judge for Technology Innovation Awards. "A new technology that saves soldiers' lives on the battlefield by warning them before the bullets hit?"
WAVES is a secure wireless network that consists of software, a base station and digital wireless radio transceivers that are situated throughout the area. When activated either manually by a sensor or by a scheduler, the system broadcasts live or recorded voice messages, siren tones and visual alerts through its wireless network.
Ben-Aire says studies conducted by the Army's Infantry Center concluded that soldiers have a 75% greater probability of survival during an insurgent attack by providing them with a warning, several seconds before impact.
"The military is very wary and conscious about protecting its soldiers," Ben-Aire says. "A lot of money is spent for this purpose, what we call 'force protection.' Without force protection, the military loses its main asset: the soldiers."
Ben-Aire was hesitant to provide details about the product used in Iraq, citing security concerns, but company materials state the system is designed for use as a stand-alone alerting system. Its base station unit is packaged in a 19-inch rack-mounted shockproof case.
The military chose WAVES because it can operate in severe environments, Ben-Aire says. Plus, fire alarms and biological weapons detection systems can be added to the system, and it can be controlled from multiple locations.
In the field, a solider can use the device to alert a commanding officer of the potential threat of a suspicious person, vehicle or object. The value of the system is when the solider makes that call, is it done through the product, as to not create widespread panic in an area.
In areas where the threat of a chemical or biological attack is high, the military, using the system's integrated sensors, rapidly detects the threat and responds to the situation.
MadahCom's systems are deployed in government areas, such as the state of Nevada's capital building, the Smithsonian Institution and the Statue of Liberty. At the Statue of Liberty, for example, the system would trigger a recorded message if a vehicle entered an unauthorized area, instructing visitors to go to a certain safe area. It is also used in amusement parks, universities, the Houston and Bronx zoos and companies, including Boeing.
"What we do is applicable to any place where there are people that you have to manage in case of an emergency," Ben-Aire says. "We manage behavior of people in times of emergency."
The perfect market
Ben-Aire joined MadahCom in 2001. In June 2002, MadahCom closed its offices in Israel and New York and consolidated all of its operations to Sarasota, mostly because Ben-Aire had a winter home in the area and liked living in the Gulf Coast. The company, which originally started out with three employees, including one of the founders, Dr. Alan Avidan, currently has a staff of 65, all working out of Sarasota. The company has added an office in Japan and is in the process of opening an office in the Middle East.
MadahCom invested about $500,000 in this technology, initally focusing on the military market. WAVES, which was developed in 2004 and launched about six months ago, was developed in cooperation with the U.S. Army and required numerous tests at special army testing grounds, as well as visits to the war zone.
The company went through a long process to get it's product approved by the military; the armyy ultiamelty found that the WAVES prodcut was the only system that fulfilled all 11 requirements.
The military was the perfect market for MadahCom, Ben-Aire says, because it had the highest demand for a notification system.
"The military is the most cognizant of danger to its people," Ben-Aire says, "and has the economic ability to actually put in place the systems that are required to protect their soldiers."
The systems don't alleviate the need for human oversight, Ben-Aire says. There's always an operator that can override the system if they have knowledge the system can't detect.
"But at the end of the day, for whatever reason, if the operator is disabled because he got very excited, then you can rely on the system to make the decisions for you," Ben-Aire says. "Machines, if they work properly, never get excited. They are not under pressure; they are not human."
Ben-Aire, who lives in the Sarasota community of Palmer Ranch, says the next step for the company is to penetrate more of the non-military market. His strategy, however, is not to spend less in the military side of the business but to enhance it, while at the same time, gradually building up the non-military market.
"The need for our system is everywhere," Ben-Aire says. "Everywhere where there are people that need to be managed in case of an emergency."
Tech Time
Reuben Ben-Aire, head of MadahCom Inc., the 2005 Technology Innovation Award winner, tells people new to the technology field to follow an old stalwart of any good business plan: Give the customer what they want.
"Don't fall in love with the technology," he says. "Too many companies are driven by their technology rather than by what their customer wants. If it's not what the customer wants, don't build it. The fact that it's good doesn't matter."
While Ben-Aire says he loves how much society has progressed due to advances in technology, he is also wary of things being overlooked from these rapid changes.
"When I was younger, we sent letters and we waited for response," the 22-year veteran of the Israeli Air Force says. "Today we send e-mails and we want instant response. We don't think as deeply as we used to because we respond so quickly, which I think causes us to make more mistakes than we did in the past."
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